I'm always amazed by the objects in our universe. The x-ray nebula imaged by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory looks like a big hand reaching out towards a ring of knots above it. The color is of course fake - the lowest energy x-rays are red, while the highest energy x-rays are blue.
The bright blue spot at the center is a spinning neutron star, or a pulsar, PSR B1509-58. Neutrons are collapsed massive stars, in their dying phases as they have run out of fuel. They have huge magnetic fields and rapidly rotate causing them to generate fantabulous electromagnetic storms, driving away particles like electrons and ions.
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